ESRM 489- Environmental and Forest Sciences Costa Rica: Natural History of Costa Rica
This early fall exploration seminar took me on an amazing tour through Costa Rica's incredibly rich and diverse culture and natural ecosystems for an entire month this past September. The focus of this course was mainly on biodiversity, specifically exploring why biodiversity is so high in the tropics, as we travelled through Costa Rica's many unique ecosystems, from montane cloud forests to coastal beaches. Hiking, birdwatching, exploring national parks, and memorizing the names of plants and animals were daily activities that helped us learn about Costa Rica's beautiful and well-preserved ecosystems; it was so much fun it could hardly be considered class work! The people and culture of Costa Rica were also an important focus of this class as well, and throughout the trip we practiced our Spanish, studied local coffee and cacao farming techniques, and talked with many farmers, conservationists, and landowners. My favorite part of this trip was by far the week-long homestay in the small town of Santa Elena; our host family was incredibly caring and it was a great opportunity to improve my sadly lacking Spanish conversation skills! I loved how this class brough the human and natural dimensions of conservation together, as we came to understand not only why Costa Rica is a hotspot for biodiversity, but how human actions and investments in ecotourism have helped preserve that biodiversity. I made countless friends on this trip, both amongst my fellow UW students and the local Ticos we met, and will never forget the plethora of amazing vistas, pouring rainstorms, muddy hikes, and hearty meals we saw and shared together.
The main project for this class was to keep a journal, which I may one day transcribe into digital format, but for now enjoy this slideshow of some of my favorite pictures from the trip!
This early fall exploration seminar took me on an amazing tour through Costa Rica's incredibly rich and diverse culture and natural ecosystems for an entire month this past September. The focus of this course was mainly on biodiversity, specifically exploring why biodiversity is so high in the tropics, as we travelled through Costa Rica's many unique ecosystems, from montane cloud forests to coastal beaches. Hiking, birdwatching, exploring national parks, and memorizing the names of plants and animals were daily activities that helped us learn about Costa Rica's beautiful and well-preserved ecosystems; it was so much fun it could hardly be considered class work! The people and culture of Costa Rica were also an important focus of this class as well, and throughout the trip we practiced our Spanish, studied local coffee and cacao farming techniques, and talked with many farmers, conservationists, and landowners. My favorite part of this trip was by far the week-long homestay in the small town of Santa Elena; our host family was incredibly caring and it was a great opportunity to improve my sadly lacking Spanish conversation skills! I loved how this class brough the human and natural dimensions of conservation together, as we came to understand not only why Costa Rica is a hotspot for biodiversity, but how human actions and investments in ecotourism have helped preserve that biodiversity. I made countless friends on this trip, both amongst my fellow UW students and the local Ticos we met, and will never forget the plethora of amazing vistas, pouring rainstorms, muddy hikes, and hearty meals we saw and shared together.
The main project for this class was to keep a journal, which I may one day transcribe into digital format, but for now enjoy this slideshow of some of my favorite pictures from the trip!
|